


Consequences

by firerwolf



Series: Spartan IV [4]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firerwolf/pseuds/firerwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a mission fails there has to be consequences</p>
            </blockquote>





	Consequences

Sarah moved through the hallway, heading toward the Captain's ready room, not really sure why she'd been summoned. Usually Lasky would have told her the reason he needed to talk to her, but there had been no explanation this time. She was a bit unsure about where she stood with Lasky at the moment. Although he'd had her back after that last mission, they had been arguing right before it and he hadn't been happy with her choice to go through the second portal. So she wasn't sure if she should take the silence as a sign of his displeasure with her. Palmer sighed. She had enough to worry about right now and really didn't need to add Tom acting odd to the list. She reached the room and knocked on the door, waiting for him to let her in, already planning on how she was going to scold him for the lack of information. All those thoughts stopped cold though as the door opened and she found that it wasn't Lasky that was waiting for her.

The man motioned her in and Sarah stepped forward, snapping to attention and saluting the Commander. "Sir," she greeted, not sure when he'd boarded the ship.

"Have a seat, Spartan," Musa instructed, motioning toward the padded Captain's chair that had been moved around to her side of the desk so Musa's wheelchair could fit where Lasky would have normally sat. Palmer hesitated, feeling a bit awkward about sitting in the chair. She'd sat in it before when Tom talked about how comfortable it was, or when she was bored while waiting for him to meet with her, but she never really liked it. She moved over to one of the standard chairs instead and sat down. "Not a fan of the plush?" he asked.

"That's Lasky's chair," Sarah responded passively. That chair had always been Tom's dream, not Sarah's. She couldn't look at it without seeing Tom sitting in it; a grin on his face, and wearing his new Captain's combat uniform. While he looked like he always belonged in the chair, she felt like she looked stupid - like a child trying to sit in their parents' chair to feel like an adult. It just wasn't a chair she was meant to sit in.

Musa shrugged, letting it go, and seemed to turn his focus to business. "I'm sure you can guess why it is that I wanted to talk to you." Sarah didn't respond, as they both knew the only thing he'd want to talk about. "I read the full report of your encounter with Halsey, and now I'd like to hear about it from you. Not the story you told ONI, but the full truth."

"I didn't lie in my report or during my briefing with the agents from ONI." Sarah had been sure that nothing she'd told the spooks had been a lie. She may have left out some events, but technically that wasn't lying.

"This isn't an official inquiry, Palmer, it's personal. This is the second time she's gotten away from you. I know your record on the firing range and in the simulations. She should have been dead on Requiem." Musa leaned forward and set his elbows on Tom's desk. "Tell me what happened."

"Exactly what I said in my report. Halsey ran, and I was going to follow until the Harvester appeared." Musa didn't speak and Palmer knew he wasn't going to let it go. "What I didn't put in my report was what happened right before we encountered the Harvester. I may have missed my shot on Requiem, but this time I didn't even shoot." Palmer hung her head in shame. "She was right there. It would have taken just one round...but I didn't fire."

"Why didn't you?" Musa asked.

"I don't know," Sarah admitted. "I just couldn't do it. I don't have a good reason. I chased her down and caught her, but then we started to argue." Musa raised an eyebrow, silently asking for clarification. "It was all just Halsey trying to buck the blame for what she's done to ONI. She wants so bad to be the victim, and just won't accept that she's a culprit."

"Halsey was never one to accept being at fault, that's for sure. She turned a blind eye to her failures; that's why people like me were left behind by her. At least the UNSC didn't abandon us as quickly." Musa relaxed some before he continued. "So during this argument she got away?"

"She was making a comment about me working for Osman, and I was denying it when she took off. I was going to follow but the Harvester appeared and shot at me." Sarah was embarrassed by what had happened after that. To be taken out by a piece of debris was pathetic. "I'm sorry."

"For what exactly, Spartan?"

"For letting her get away," Palmer answered with remorse. "For failing to stop her again. I let my personal feelings get in the way of me doing my job properly, but I couldn't help but argue. I just can't stand her and her self-righteous attitude. I couldn't just let it go that she's a traitor and just wants to reason away what she's done. How could I say nothing when she claims she only betrayed us because ONI wanted her dead, when the hit on her wasn't ordered until _after_ she helped Jul board the Infinity and got my Spartans killed?" Sarah shut her mouth, realizing that she was being unprofessional.

"I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing in your shoes," Musa said, causing Sarah to stare at him in confusion. "I hate that woman and what she did, and I'd love nothing more than to give her a piece of my mind if I could. But I don't think I could just shoot her either. It takes a certain kind of person to be willing to kill someone in cold blood, but those people aren't Spartans. They tend to be grabbed up by ONI."

"That doesn't change the fact that she still got away," Sarah argued. "I...I screwed up again. And this time she has the relic that was all we managed to retrieve from Requiem."

"Not a loss," Musa said, waving off her words. "In fact this might be better than us having either half." Sarah couldn't keep the surprise off of her face. How could such a big loss be the best outcome? "Jul and Halsey wanted that relic enough to waste lives on it, because they wanted it for a reason. ONI is tracking them now; letting Halsey lead us right to whatever was so important that she gave up everything for it. As far as the records are concerned you're the only reason we know that Jul has the whole relic. Before you took a chance and went to hunt down Jul we thought we'd lost both halves. When you stumbled upon the rebels within Jul's ranks handing it over to him, it was only bad luck that a Harvester kept you from retrieving it. But I'd like to see some Admiral sitting behind a desk dare to claim failure in living through a run-in with a Harvester." Sarah nodded, understanding that what Musa just said was basically the cover story for what had really happened. "You did well, Spartan."

"Thank you, Sir, but the both of us know that's bull." Palmer hoped he wouldn't be offended by her bluntness, but he had said it that they weren't having an official conversation. "Halsey got away again because I simply couldn't put the bullet she deserves in her head."

Musa stayed silent for a moment before he spoke. "I don't think that would settle anything; though I have a question. If you had brought her back to Infinity, what exactly did you plan on doing after that?"

"I'd hand her over to Lasky," Sarah answered without hesitation.

"And what would he do with her?" Musa asked. "What would you want him to do?"

"Whatever was right," Sarah stated simply. "I don't know what the right thing to do with her is, but Tom would figure it out. I trust that he would make a reasonable decision, and ensure that she got whatever was coming to her."

"What if he handed her over to ONI?" Musa proposed.

Sarah paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "I don't think he'd do that. He knows what ONI will do, and he doesn't think that's what's right. I don't know exactly what he'd have happen to her, but he'd make sure that Halsey pays in some way - just in a way an ODST doesn't think of."

"She's going to pay, that's for sure, and in a way not even a Captain might think of." Musa leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk. "When we know where Halsey is heading, Infinity is going to go after her. You're going to find out what she wants and take it from right under her nose, and then do what you feel you need to after that. I won't order you to kill her. My only order for you is to be a Spartan when the time comes."

"I don't think I know what a Spartan would do," Sarah admitted. "I'm not half the Spartan you are, and I'm nothing like the Master Chief."

"That could be argued," Musa said under his breath, but Palmer pretended not to hear, not really understanding anyway. "I didn't say for you to be me or the Chief. I said to be a Spartan, which you are. The Spartan-IV project is the final evolution of the Spartan Program, and what it should have been from the start. You are the best the UNSC has; elevated to an even higher caliber of soldier, protecting humanity. When the moment comes, you'll do what a Spartan would."

Sarah still wasn't convinced, but she really didn't have a good argument that he'd accept. "Yes, sir."

Their conversation was interrupted as the office door slid open and the Spartans turned to see Captain Lasky staring at them in surprise. "Sir, I didn't know you were on board."

Lasky moved to salute but Musa held up a hand. "That's because I'm not onboard, Captain." He turned to Palmer and nodded. "You have your orders, Spartan. I'll leave you to your work." Musa backed his wheelchair up and moved toward the door. Tom moved out of the way, letting the Spartan-II exit before he turned to Sarah.

"Don't ask," Sarah said, slumping in her chair. She hadn't realized how rigid her posture had been until Musa had left. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Then I won't," Tom agreed, moving over to his chair. He gripped the back and moved to push it back in place but stopped, instead moving it closer to Palmer's seat. He looked down to the floor for a moment before he looked to her. "I'm sorry."

"And what are you apologizing for?" Sarah asked.

"I screwed up on Requiem, and you stopped me from being hurt by what I did. I have no right to try to assert what I want over what your orders are. I'm sorry for that, and I don't want to cause trouble between us. So although I still want to take Halsey into custody, I fully support you killing her if that's what you have to do."

"I don't even know what I want to do the next time I see her, Tom. I have my orders, but I had them before and still didn't shoot her then," Sarah pointed out. "All I know is that when I became a Spartan I was proud - but now I'm not so sure. The things she did, the rumors...I just can't hold my head as high anymore, and the title doesn't carry the same price."

"You're an amazing soldier, a great leader, and one of the best friends anyone could ask for. That's more than enough to hold your head high for." Sarah smiled at Tom's words, accepting the complement. "And no matter what you choose to do, Sarah, I've got your back."

"Thanks, Tom," Palmer said, feeling a bit more at ease. She hated when things were tense between them or when they were at odds. At the very least it was one less thing she had to concern herself with now. "Well we better get to work. When ONI finds out where Jul is we'll need to be ready."

Tom sighed in frustration. "I don't want to do paper work."

Sarah stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Get your butt up, Captain Lazy. Don't make me babysit you." Tom didn't move though, and Sarah sighed. "I'll help you with the paper work. I suppose I'm responsible for some of it anyway."

Tom grinned and stood up finally. "Paperwork is easier with some good company."

"Then maybe you should go find that tech on F-Deck that likes to steal glances at you in the shower," Palmer suggested.

"Jealous?" Lasky asked.

"Of her looking at you? No, I've seen you come out of cryo. Why would I be jealous of her looking at a blistered old man?" Tom frowned, and this time there was something genuine to the hurt. Sarah had meant it as a tease but she immediately felt sorry for having offended him. She quickly moved to correct her mistake. "She is the one that should be jealous of me. Because I've seen your little-duck pajama pants and the boxers with the hearts on them."

Tom blushed and Sarah laughed at his embarrassment. "I'm going to go do paperwork," he announced, turning and moving toward the door. Sarah chuckled to herself as she followed him out of the office.


End file.
